Known prior art vehicle interior roof-mounted air bag systems are typically impractical and not aesthetically acceptable for current vehicle designs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,834,606 to Bertrand, air bag inflators are mounted to the interior roof, and the air bag bladders are deployed from the inflators. In the configuration described, mounting the air bag inflators and bladders on the vehicle interior roof is aesthetically undesirable, particularly in current vehicle designs.
It has been proposed to mount the air bag inflators for an air bag deployment system within the "A" pillar or "B" pillar of the vehicle. However, such mounting of the inflator assembly within an "A" pillar or "B" pillar is undesirable because it generally requires the pillar to be larger in cross-section, which may adversely affect vehicle body design.
It is desirable to provide a vehicle interior air bag deployment system in which an air bag and inflator are mounted for air bag deployment along the side windows of the vehicle between the "A" pillar and "C" pillar, and in which the inflator assembly and bladder assembly are efficiently packaged in the vehicle to satisfy functional and aesthetic requirements of vehicle interior designs.
It is also desirable to provide a self-locating retainer which is useful in blind attachment of components, such as attachment of a headliner onto a vehicle roof.